UNWTO FILES
@VoyagesAfriq
The Tourism shows are Back! The Tourism sector’s excitement following the easing of travel restrictions and return of tourism expos is a great impetus given to an industry which was at the receiving end of the ferocious coronavirus pandemic. The start of the second quarter saw destinations especially in Africa making bold decisions to save the sector from total collapse. This is not to suggest in the least that the woes of the sector are over but the return to trade shows is a muchneeded win which can spur and accelerate the restart. Exercising caution in opening the sector, event organisers and countries who took the very unpopular yet bold step in the revival of the industry deserve some deal of commendation. It ought to be mentioned that, regardless of the magnitude of the events held in these difficult times, it has contributed immensely to setting the scene for the shows to return, knowing that, this discipline of tourism is crucial to the revival of the industry. South Africa has become the epicenter of the MICE tourism restart as major events on Africa’s Tourism calendar have occurred in the rainbow nation. Meetings Africa 2022 got the MICE events underway when it returned after 12 months in February and against what some pessimists referenced as a super spreader event. Thankfully, a significant number of African tourism players embraced it, and proved to be a blue-chip edition
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Amanda Kotze-Nhlapo, Chief Convention Bureau Officer at South African Tourism
and which the stage for the return of live events on the continent. The second major gathering of industry professionals was WTM Africa held in Cape Town from 11-13th April at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. The mixed (MICE and leisure) events offered hope for an industry which for 24 months has been disrupted negatively with remnants of it persisting. The Commercial Director of RX Africa (Formerly Reed Exhibition Africa) Papy Luzala organisers of Africa Travel week said, in as much as virtual platforms offered alternative, person to person could never be substituted for the former. “The World Travel Market (WTM Africa) 2022 edition that took place in April this year in Cape Town, South Africa, marked a significant turnaround moment for live events in the travel and tourism sector, particularly for the African continent. Indeed, the event gave back hope to travel professionals who participated from across Africa and beyond for post-pandemic recovery in the sector, and also demonstrated the important role of face-face meetings for concluding business deals.” Papy observed. The leadership of South African Tourism (organizer of Indaba) made the bold decision to go ahead with the continent’s biggest leisure show Africa’s Travel Indaba in spite of the devastating effects of the torrential floods in the Kwazulu Natal Province. The industry indeed showed solidarity to the wonderful people of KZN and turned up in style. The Chief Convention Bureau Officer at South African Tourism, Amanda Kotze-Nhlapo at the recently held IMEX Frankfurt underscored the need for live events to return.
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The Commercial Director of RX Africa (Formerly Reed Exhibition Africa) Papy Luzala
VOYAGESAFRIQ
"Having been at IMEX for the past few days, the importance of business events globally was once again highlighted with a clear message that if we do not continue with physical meetings then we will not be injecting money into the economies of the various cities and countries. It was so
